Truces
by Preemtive Karma
Summary: It was a quiet night in Amity park. Unless of course you looked up and saw the two ghosts battling it out in the sky, or noticed the Fentons racing to keep up with them. Jack and Maddie overhear a very interesting conversation. And they want answers.
1. Eavesdropping

It was a pitch-black night in Amity Park. All was quiet.

Unless of course you happened to look up and see the two ghosts battling it out in an all out aerial brawl, ghost rays creating a fantastic display of green and pink fireworks. Or glanced down at the speeding van following them, screeching around corners and decapitating innocent mailboxes. There were many scratches on the van, or 'the Fenton family ghost assault vehicle' as Jack Fenton would say.

Well, he would say it if he weren't busy trying to keep up with the two ghosts in the air above.

"Hurry Jack! We've never been this close to them before!"

'Them' being the infamous Danny Phantom fighting the mysterious Wisconsin Ghost, who seemed to be a bit far from home, in Maddie's opinion.

Jack only nodded in reply, focusing more on following the ghosts rather than sticking to his side of the road. There was a trail of mutilated trash cans and letterboxes in his wake. Unfortunately for the two ghost hunters, they lost sight of the angry ghosts as Jack swerved to avoid a particularly solid streetlamp.

The two drove on and searched the skies for any sign of life, so to speak. It seemed like they had indeed completely lost sight of their target, when the telltale green flash of a misdirected ghost ray lit up the sky. Jack took a left into what would soon be a new residential area, yet to be built, to correct their course. The ghosts were fighting a ways ahead; the Wisconsin ghost seemed to have the upper hand. The Fentons drove closer.

With no apparent warning, the two ghosts stopped and landed on the ground. Neither let their guard down.

"They're talking?" asked Jack. "I don't get it. They were blasting the heck out of each other just a second ago."

"Not talking, arguing!" said Maddie, peering at them. She looked at her husband. "I want to hear what they are saying, let's leave the GAV here and sneak up close?"

Jack looked a bit disappointed that he would be leaving the powerhouse of anti-ghost weaponry behind, but agreed. He was quite curious as to what made them stop in the middle of such a heated battle too. He took some of his inventions with him anyway, following his wife and trying to be as quiet as a huge man laden with ghost weaponry can be.

He was surprisingly stealthy, and the hunters both reached the ghosts undetected.

"-them, you stubborn boy!"

"Because unlike you, I'm not an evil, lonely old guy with no friends!"

Jack and Maddie turned to each other and rolled their eyes, _yeah right. _All _ghosts are evil._ They turned back to the ghosts who were glaring venomously at each other.

"You are more like me than you seem to realise, or maybe you do and you do not wish to acknowledge it?"

"I am NOT like you! Why don't you just go back to your castle, get a cat and live happily ever after, _away_ from me an-"

"Not like me? You aren't above blackmail, as you have demonstrated before. Using my own weakness against me was quite devious, don't you think? Not exactly the move of a 'good guy'"

Phantom visibly tensed, but didn't back down.

"I forced a truce. That's completely different than trying to kill someone who happens to be in your way, Plasmius!"

"Ah, yes the truce. That doesn't help you much now, does it Daniel? You may have been willing to expose us to Jack and Maddie then to save them, but are you willing to expose us both to the world now to stop me?"

The hunters looked at each other, communicating silently as only a husband and wife could. They had been married for over eighteen years and were virtually mind readers.

'What the heck are they talking about? What could be so secret that two powerful ghosts would call a truce over?'

Contrary to popular belief, the older Fentons were not stupid. They knew a powerful ghost when they saw it.

'No idea, but why did they mention us specifically? When did Phantom save us?'

'What could Phantom have told us?'

'Who the hell is Plasmius?'

'The Wisconsin Ghost, I think.'

The ghosts were raising many questions for the humans to ponder, but now wasn't the time as the ghost boy was talking again.

"I won't let it get that far. I have friends to back me up. If it gets that far I know I can rely on them, and even the other ghost hunters in Amity aren't as hopeless as they are made out to be. I'm sure your 'pawn', for one, would be very interested in the truth behind her 'mysterious benefactor'." Phantom punctuated his sarcasm with little air quotes.

"I'm sure she would be, but tell me boy, would she accept the so called truth from _you_? I selected her for her drive and skills, not to mention her one track mind. She has the blasters and the grudge. She won't believe a word you say. She's the perfect pawn, diving blindly into a fight hoping to destroy you, all in the name of misplaced blame."

"You're just using her!" shouted Phantom, fists clenched. "She has no idea of where the _real_ ghostly threat is coming from, and it could get her killed! All because you let her think I'm to blame!"

Maddie turned to her husband and whispered, "That's odd, why would he even care?"

'Search me...' shrugged Jack

"I don't tell her to come after you specifically Daniel, although it is rather amusing when she interrupts your battles and believes she makes it out unscathed due to her own skills. You should stop protecting her. Wouldn't it be easier on you if you just let the 'Red Huntress' die? It wouldn't even be you killing her, I can order Skulker to do it if you prefer." The older ghost was grinning, goading Phantom.

"-The hell?! Leave her _alone_! Leave everyone alone, and just get the hell out of my town, you crazed up froot-loop!"

And with that last verbal barb, the short intermission was over and The Wisconsin Ghost, or maybe Plasmius? Whichever, blasted Danny once more with a weirdly pink ghost ray. Danny went flying through the air, crashing to a halt in the wall that the eavesdropping Fentons were on the other side of. The wall collapsed around him, and Maddie had to sidestep to avoid some falling bricks. Luckily, she went unnoticed by the ghosts.

"Do consider joining me Daniel, save yourself a lot of pain." Plasmius called as he disappeared in a condensed fog of pink, really what was with all the pink anyway?

"Egotistical glow stick..." mumbled Danny from the new pile of rubble. Then he looked up and finally noticed the two armed and dangerous ghost hunters standing close by, weapons trained unwaveringly on him.

"Oh hell... Whatever it is, I didn't do it, I swear!" Danny glanced around, looking for a way out. He knew even his dad wouldn't need to be a great shot at this range.

'This is so not my night' he thought to himself. He was still pretty wiped out from his fight with Vlad. He had just finished capturing a malevolent lizard ghost, who seemed intent on being the next Godzilla, when his least favourite froot-loop had appeared to mess with him some more. Now this?

"You sound awfully guilty there, ghost boy. Ghosts don't have real emotions. Why the pretence?" Demanded Maddie. Jack stood by her, with his favourite (ludicrously oversized) Fenton Bazooka at the ready.

"I'm not pretending!" insisted Danny, crossing his arms. "And I haven't done anything wrong, so what's your problem?"

"We overheard you talking to the Wisconsin Ghost back there and we want answers," said Maddie.

"How much did you hea- ... Why should I tell you guys anything? It's my business." Danny was very nervous now, he might have to spill to his parents or get blasted. Talk about being between a rock and a hard place! He decided to play for time. Oh, his life was awesome.

"You're the one terrorising our town, ghost! So we have the right to know."

Danny decided he was going to be difficult. "Know what? I got no idea what you're talking about. And for the record, I protect the town not terrorise it!" he smirked, but inside he knew that antagonising the _ghost_ hunters, while looking like his _ghost_ alter ego, was a terminally dumb idea.

"You said you could have exposed him. What was that?" asked Jack bluntly. The couple noticed that Phantom paled at this.

"That's for me to know, and you not to. Eavesdropping on private conversations is really rude, you know." Danny crossed his arms, trying to cover his nervousness.

The Fentons (Danny not included for the moment) looked at each other to do their mind reading thing, they seemed to come to an agreement.

_I hate it when they do that, _thought Danny.

"How about a deal then?" asked Maddie.

Danny looked suspiciously at his parents, "What kind of deal?"

"Give us some answers and we'll let you go free tonight instead of blasting you to bits and dissecting whatever's left over," grinned Jack.

"You're kidding, right?"

"Nope. Tell us what we want to know, and you're off the hook," replied Jack.

"For tonight only," added Maddie.

Danny sighed. What could he tell them without completely blowing his cover? Or Vlad's, because that would be nearly as bad. "The thing is, I can't tell you."

"And why not?" responded Maddie. She thought for a moment, "the truce! Am I right?" Danny nodded to her. "What is the truce then?"

Danny thought hard, what can he say without revealing anything? "It was sort of... This one time... Well, when Plasmius and I first met... Long story short, he stops messing with... some people, and I won't tell everyone his secret."

"He said 'expose both' of you. Care to explain?"

"Well, telling everyone _his_ secret will let everyone know mine. And don't ask, because that _is_ my business, okay?"

"So you were going to come to us to reveal your secret to stop him that one time? I'm touched," joked Jack.

"How much _did_ you two hear? Nosy much?" asked Danny, scowling. He thought it best if they didn't know how important they were to Vlad and himself just yet.

Maddie ignored that, "What could the two of you possibly not want everyone to know?"

"I can't say without breaking the truce!"

"But doesn't Plasmius? He comes around here all the way from Wisconsin just to see you? I don't think so," asked Maddie.

"He...bends the truce. And I kick his butt when he does," answered Danny. Quietly he added, "Or at least I try to."

"Try to?" Maddie saw Phantom start at this, obviously she wasn't meant to hear that.

Danny looked down, "He's a lot stronger than me. I usually have help." He looked back up, right into her eyes, "_really_ don't ask. You don't need to know." _It's better if they don't know about Sam and Tuck._

Jack steered the interrogation- I mean conversation- back on course, "If there was a way for you to tell his secret to everyone without yours being given away too, would you?"

Danny knew this was quite impossible, he shook his head. The second he outed Vlad, his own identity was fair game. "Impossible. Besides, I get the feeling that the thing... the truce is the only thing stopping him sometimes."

"Won't you just tell _us_? We can use his weakness to fight him, you know," Maddie hadn't forgotten how Danny had said the 'other' ghost hunters in Amity weren't hopeless. Funny, the only one to take them seriously was a ghost, rather than the townspeople they protected.

"No! You don't get it!" moaned Danny in frustration, "If everyone, if _anyone_, knew...He wouldn't have to hold back anymore! He wouldn't need to be so subtle, he could just be here and do whatever he wanted!" he ran his hand through his hair. "No one could stop him. You know I'm strong right?"

The hunters nodded, surprised at his outburst.

"He's way stronger than me. He's had twenty whole years, with no distractions, to grow more powerful. He already has the resources he needs, on Earth and in the Zone. He just _wants_ a few more things before...whatever. Me? I've been around for barely any time at all. Not even a whole year, and I don't _have_ all day to practice, train or anything. Do you see?"

Maddie wondered in horror, _Phantom is barely a baby in ghost terms, and Plasmius has been around for_ that_ long? He must be incredibly strong!_

Then Jack asked him, "So, Plasmius coming around, wreaking some havoc, destroying stuff and picking fights... is him being _subtle_?"

"Yes. Tell me, do you know what he wants?" asked Danny of his parents. They shook their heads in reply. "That's him being subtle. You don't know what he is aiming for, you don't know what to expect _and you don't know what you're dealing with!_" And with that, he disappeared. The hunters were stunned, and didn't think to raise their weapons, which had lowered while they talked.

Danny floated intangibly and invisibly through the ground and resurfaced a couple blocks down, where there were buildings to take cover amongst. He was exhausted, and didn't feel up to flying all the way home so he let go of his ghost form and as Danny Fenton, walked home. He knew he had let too much slip tonight, but that was something he would have to deal with tomorrow. It was past his curfew, but he was beyond caring at the moment.

* * *

Back next to the collapsed wall Jack and Maddie stood side by side.

"Wow, the Wisconsin ghost is really that powerful?" breathed Maddie."And he only _wants_ something before he attacks for real? What's stopping him?"

"You know Mads, I think that maybe Phantom is telling the truth about protecting the town, just maybe."

"But why would he? He's dead, he has no reason to help anyone other than himself. Agh! If only he had stuck around for a few more minutes!" she sighed in frustration. "But you may be onto something dear."

"We should find out some more about him before hunting him, what is keeping him here? What's his obsession?" Jacks eyes shone with the thought of finding more answers.

As the two made their way back to the van, they never noticed the flash of light from a distance that was Phantom transforming. It was ironic how close to the truth they were, but always so far away.

Maddie wondered what Plasmius could possibly want in Amity Park. _If he haunts all the way out in Wisconsin, he must have died there too. Surely his obsession would be there with him? There's nothing really special about this town other than the higher spectral activity and ecto-readings..._

* * *

All the way home Jack drove much more sedately than when he was chasing ghosts. Only one unfortunate trash can was sent flying and Jack insisted it wasn't his fault.

That night the two hunters decided they would keep seeking out Phantom. No longer to destroy him, but to get to know him and see if he was trustworthy. It was a novel concept; ghost hunters working alongside a ghost?

"Heh, Phantom might just have a truce with us too, soon!" they smiled at the possibility of having a powerful ally like Phantom.

They made it home long before Danny did, but Danny was spared grounding because his parents were in the lab.

"_Working on a more effective ghost alarm and track, they said." Jazz had smiled at him, "You spoke to them tonight, didn't you? How'd it go?"_

_I really don't know, _he thought.

"I hope this won't come back to bite me in the butt later," he sighed and went to his room, it was late and he needed to sleep. He fell asleep listening to the faint sounds of his parents talking in the lab.

* * *

A couple hours later he shot up in his bed in shivers, awakened by his ghost sense. The sun was yet to come up, but that never stopped him going out to fight before.

As Danny Phantom flew out of his window, down in the basement Jack and Maddie looked at the display of their newest creation.

"Two ghosts, heading right for each other!" exclaimed Jack happily, "It works! What's the bet it'll be Phantom fighting another ghost?"

"It would certainly fit in with his usual pattern. I guess we'll be meeting up with Phantom sooner than we thought!" said Maddie as they both gathered their gear and drove out to chase down Phantom once again.

* * *

**Authors note: Hi here, this is my first fanfiction, hope you liked it! Feel free to tell me how I went, what I did right and what I didn't. Feedback is a beautiful thing.**


	2. Chases, cars and bad cooking

"This is getting extremely frustrating!" growled Jack, as they lost Phantom for the umpteenth time. He had just used his new favourite trick of phasing through something extremely solid. Next he would somehow disappear from their ghost detecting equipments view, to escape once again. This time it was a brick wall. Last time it was a tree. Jack still wasn't sure how he hid after passing through a tree, but hide he did.

It had been two weeks from the time when they had first spoken to Phantom. And despite their new and improved Phantom Finder™, they had yet to catch up to the ghost boy since. Not that it was the fault of their invention, of course! It was an altered version of the Fenton Finder, designed specifically to detect abnormally high concentrations of ectoplasmic energy, which pretty much meant Phantom. And it worked wonderfully! It was able to track powerful ghosts while ignoring weaker ones, such as the Box Ghost. Over and over. No, the problem wasn't in the equipment. The problem was Phantom himself.

You see, Jack and Maddie no longer wanted to destroy Phantom and examine the remains and so on. They want to talk to him. After cornering phantom that first time, they had gotten to thinking, what if he wastelling the truth? It'd make a surprising amount of sense, in hindsight. So they set out with the intention of finding the other side of the story.

Now the problem is that Phantom doesn't want to talk. For a long time now, he's had to work at fighting ghosts and defending against ghost hunters, often at the same time. So when he sees the Fenton's trying to catch him now, he can't be sure if they are simply hunting with new vigour. His parents have been strangely quiet about the whole thing, and Danny Fenton can't ask too much without raising suspicion. So now he has to deal with _three _human ghost hunters crashing his fights, and he is not very happy about it. So he runs.

Maddie looked at the Fenton Finders screen, waiting for what she knew would happen next. After a few moments of losing him through the wall, sure enough, Phantoms dot vanished from sight.

"How does he _do_ that? No other ghost is able to hide from this one; it's the best we've made yet!" Maddie tapped the machine despondently.

"But you have to admit, no other ghost hangs around long enough for us to test that thoroughly. Phantom gets them all so fast. How does he know where they are?" wondered Jack.

For two weeks they had been asking themselves the same questions over and over. For inquisitive minds like theirs, not getting answers was pure torture.

"Technology perhaps? Like the Red Huntress?" she replied. But her heart just wasn't in it right now.

Once again, they drove home without the ghost boy. Jazz was in the kitchen when they arrived. Unfortunately, she was cooking dinner.

"Hi mom, dad! Ho luck, huh?" she said in greeting. Of course she already knew that they hadn't captured Danny, he'd already come and gone after his parents latest attempt. Danny said that he was going to Tuck's to stay the night. He told her there was slightly less chance of food poisoning that way.

"Hey Jazzypants. What's cooking?" asked Jack, priorities as straight as ever.

"I'm afraid not honey. We don't know how to catch him, we just never know where he'll be until he's there. If only we knew where his haunt was!" sighed Maddie wistfully. She shook her head, "In any case...is that the new type 3 ecto-sample on the stove?"

"Nope! That's in the fridge next to dad's backup fudge. It came in today after I got home from school. I'm trying a new recipe. That's the pea and avocado puree...or was it the potato and parsley paste?" Jazz drifted off while trying to remember what it was she was trying to cook again.

"Sounds great!" enthused Jack. Well, no one could say he wasn't an adventurous eater, that's for sure. "If you need us we'll be in the lab. We're working on our latest invention to catch Phantom!"

"As usual. Maybe D-Phantom doesn't want to be caught and torn apart, have you thought of that?" she asked seriously. She had seen how stressed Danny had been lately, and knew it was because of her parents. To herself, she added "And where are the fire extinguishers, they used to be in the cupboard in a box under the pasta?"

"Don't worry, we'll ask him after we catch him, princess!" replied her dad, missing the point completely, as he walked downstairs.

"Fire extinguishers are under the sink now, the old boxes kept going missing for some reason." Maddie told her. "And we don't want to destroy him anymore sweetie, didn't we tell you?" She kissed her daughter on the cheek and joined Jack in the lab.

"Oh, no you didn't." said Jazz absently as she turned back to stirring her bubbling...whatever it was.

Then what her mom said hit her. "OH!"

* * *

The cars sped around the corners of the mountain. It was a close race. But the three had been driving for quite some time now, and it was beginning to show in their delayed reactions. The engines thundered on.

One driver miscalculated badly, he turned far too wide around a bend, sending him careening over the edge of a canyon that was impossibly deep. If the other drivers heard his anguished cry, they ignored it. The remaining racers drove on; they were nearing the end of the race, last lap, two corners to go...one...

"Ha! I win again boys!" came Sam's triumphant cry as she claimed victory yet again.

Danny threw down his controller in defeat, while next to him Tuck mourned the loss of his favourite car.

"I always fall over that one corner! What is about that one specific, stupid corner!" he griped. "I was coming second too..." He had gone sailing over that cliff in the same place for the last two games so far.

The friends laughed together, it was times like these when they could relax where they noticed how seldom they did.

Danny had opted to spend some much needed time with his friends, in light of all the recent action Phantom has dealt with. His parents were getting really persistent, and he didn't want a repeat of the last time he spoke with them as a ghost. He really had said far too much. So it was decided that there would be a video game and junk food marathon night at Tucker's, because it was a Friday night and Jazz was cooking at home.

"Play again?" challenged Danny. As expected, the challenge was accepted with a grin from Sam and a determined smirk from Tuck.

"I pick the course this time!" He crowed. "Get ready to crash and burn!"

After the obligatory competitive trash talking, the three settled into a peaceful silence with only the occasional explosion interrupting the quiet. But all good things don't last, and eventually the subject of Phantoms troubles was brought up.

"So Danny, how are you coping?" asked Tucker with a grimace as he scraped the side of his car on Sam's. There was no need for Danny to ask what he was talking about.

"Not great," he replied with a frown. "They did say that the 'not destroying me and picking at the remains' thing was for one night only, but I also think Sam's right and they aren't shooting to kill anymore," His car ran over a pickup and he fired a rocket at Tuck. "But I still don't want a repeat performance of that last time."

Tuck dodged the rocket deftly and it hit Sam, sending her spinning off track and out of the lead. She swore quietly and the boys rushed past her.

"Why you little… Fair enough. But they are getting more determined every night. You said they spend more time than usual in the lab, figuring out more ways to track you…" she trailed off as she tried to regain some ground on the boys.

"Yeah, how come the new ghost tracker can't find you when you're human, dude? It's more powerful than the regular one right?" Tucker zigzagged across the road so Sam couldn't pass him. She fired a laser beam at him and it fried his car for a few moments, letting her zoom through.

"More powerful, but way less sensitive," He replied. "It's strong enough to track Phantom across town, but as a human I register less than the Box Ghost standing next to Pariah Dark." And with that, he was bumped off the edge of a cliff by Tuck and had to wait for the race to finish without him. He sighed, "Which is good actually because I'm sick of setting off the ghost alarms in the fridge for getting a midnight snack."

"Ha, take that!" Tucker cheered as he and Sam raced neck and neck for the last stretch of the track. His little driver tossed a mine into Sam's car. "Success!"

"No!" she moaned in dismay as her car exploded in a pixellated fiery doom. "So they've switched all of the alarms to the new ones?"

"Yeah," Danny nodded.

"Wow," Sam mused out loud. "So now they want to _talk_ to you, huh? A pretty far cry from the 'destroy! Destroy the evil ghost boy!' motto against Phantom before. And all you had to do was get smashed through a wall by Vlad!" Sam and Tucker laughed, but Danny just rolled his eyes.

"'His grand frootyness' has been hanging around more lately. I'm worried about whatever he's planning next. All I got is the generic 'kill Jack, marry Maddie' plot-vibe and...I just don't know."

"Could you use their help then? Just call a temporary ceasefire or something?" inquired Tuck, "It does seem like your parents are easing up after all. And you mom kinda kicks butt."

"Yeah…But what if it's just an act? I don't know for sure and they gave me lots of funny looks last time I tried to bring it up." Danny looked sadly at the controller in his hands, as if it could give him the answers he wanted. "How do I know?"

"Well, maybe-," whatever Sam was about to say was cut off by Danny's ghost sense. He sighed in resignation.

"I'd better get this," he said to his friends.

"If you're not back in an hour, we'll assume you parents have caught you and we'll come to your rescue, okay dude?" Tuck joked with an easy grin.

Danny laughed at that, it was great to have friends like them who would stay by his side, for better or worse.

"Thanks," twin rings of light passed over him, and suddenly Phantom was standing in front of them. Tuck handed him his thermos. "I'll hold you to it."

"Go kick ghost butt. We'll be waiting for you."

Tuck and Sam sat together as Danny flew out through the wall. He'd be back, they knew it.

The game sat forgotten with 'Game Over' flashing obnoxiously on the screen.

* * *

The wind flattened his hair back as he flew fast to where his ghost sense pointed him. There didn't even seem to be much screaming in the streets, so it probably wasn't a huge threat this time. Danny was relieved, this meant he could quickly get in and get out.

He arrived on the scene, it was just a weak ghost terrorising the corner store in town. Throwing merchandise around and pulling scary faces and the like.

"Easy," he murmured to himself. The weak blob of a ghost looked up in what might have passed for dismay as Phantom rushed at it.

Just as he had predicted, it was a short fight. He had the ghost captured in all of ten minutes and now all he had to do was-

"Phantom! Stop right there!"

He groaned aloud and his shoulders slumped. _Twice in one day? I'm going to find Murphy's ghost and kick his intangible butt._

"Hmm," Danny pretended to think. "Nope. Bye now!"

He turned in the air and flew towards the wall that faced the back alley of the store. Maddie pushed the conspicuously large red button on a shiny new invention, it came to life with a beep and a quiet humming sound.

_You can't follow me through here,_ _there's no door, _Danny thought. _And it'll take you forever to drive around the block. So long-_

BANG!

Danny crashed headfirst into the not-so-intangible wall and slid to the floor with a shower of plaster and brick chips raining on his head.

"Ugh," he moaned verbosely, rubbing his aching head. "What hit me?"

"Gotcha!" Jack cried as he ran towards Danny and grabbed his arm. "It worked Mads!"

Danny phased through Jacks hand, nothing happened. _Wait, that's not right..._

"I can't go intangible!" Danny shouted. He yanked his arm out of Jacks grip and flew back a few meters. At least he could still fly.

Thanks to his failed escape plan, his parents were now in-between Danny and the only exit. Hurray.

"You think he should be moving after a hit like that?" Maddie said to Jack, looking at Phantom critically.

"He _was_ going pretty fast," agreed Jack. "Hey, ghost kid, you alright?"

"I can take a hit, as you should well know since you're always shooting at me!" Danny shrieked. He was a bit upset, to put it mildly. And his head hurt. "What the hell did you do? I can't phase!"

"It's our newest invention! It runs on the principal that ghosts as unstable ectoplasmic entities are able to utilise their instability to alter the molecular structure of their chosen form and thus phase through objects, so if we send out our counter-phase pulse with our anti-ecto frequency generator it forces a ghost into a state of temporary stability which won't allow the ghost to change form or use intangibility until we say so!" Jack declared proudly, somehow all in the one breath. Danny just stared blankly at him.

"I'm fourteen, did you expect me to understand any of that? At all?" he asked, "You lost me after 'It's our newest invention'."

"It prevents you from turning intangible," Maddie translated.

"Well, duh. I figured that much out on my own thanks." Danny droned sarcastically, as he inched around the hunters.

"So, you're fourteen?" asked Maddie conversationally. She had noticed Phantom moving, and moved too.

"What? No I'm not! Who told you that?"

"You did, just then?" Maddie sighed, "Are you always this bad a liar or did you just hit your head that hard?"

"Oh, no," Danny said, shaking his head and crossing his arms over his chest. He saw where this conversation was going to end up. "I am so not going through this again. One interrogation was plenty thanks. I am outta here!"

"Won't you just stop for a minute and hear us out?" she asked him, "We've been trying to get you to stop and listen for a fortnight now."

"Why should I when you never did?" he shot back with a defiant stare. His parents flinched and Danny felt a tendril of guilt worm its way into his thoughts. _They _are _my parents and I don't really like seeing them so bummed. I might as well tell them 'back off' nicely than keep running off._

Before Danny opened his mouth to make clear to his parents; thanks, but no thanks, Jack answered, "Because we're trying to fix it now." The sincerity in his tone stopped Danny in his tracks.

Danny ran his hand through his hair, there was no way he could in good conscience just say 'no, bugger off' now. He sighed. _Damn._

"There's a very good reason I don't want you guys around me, okay? Take my word for it. Trained ghost hunters or not, it's too dangerous for you."

"And it's not for you? We see some of the hits you take," replied Maddie. She looked at Jack and added, "Yes, even the ones we gave you."

"Difference is, I'm dead and you're not. I'd like you to stay that way, okay?" Danny absolutely hated bringing out the 'dead' card, because he really didn't think he was dead. Just a ghost sometimes, is all. He insisted there was a difference, and his friends agreed.

"Aw, didn't know you cared ghost kid! Can't you just answer a few questions?" appealed Jack. "Please?"

"No. Why should I? What could it possibly accomplish? What's in it for you?" Danny asked them "And my names not ghost kid." He really wanted to get out of there quickly, because his resolve to keep his mysterious alter ego mysterious was fading fast. _I wish they had switched sides on me _before _Vlad came into the picture. It's so complicated now!_

"Knowledge, of course!" Maddie replied at once, as if it was obvious. "We are scientists and are driven to find all the answers we can, surely you can relate?"

"Huh?"

"As a ghost, you put off passing on because of your obsession, right?" Jack tried to clarify, "It's what keeps you going, just like the search for answers does for us."

_Oh great, now they're trying to relate to a 'ghost' _Danny thought, _this is so incredibly weird. _"Uhh, right. But can't you find your answers somewhere else? Try the internet?"

"Why are you so secretive?" Maddie asked him.

"I'm not secretive" He denied, "You're just too inquisitive."

"Hey, g-" Jack hesitated for a second; he had been about to cal Danny 'ghost kid' again. "Phantom, what _is_ your obsession anyway? As strong as you are, it has to be a big one, right?"

_I've never really thought of it, but I can't tell them that. Time to bluff, hope they buy it._ Danny hated lying. "Don't you know it's rude to ask a ghost that? It's kinda personal, you know."

"No actually, we didn't." replied Maddie, shaking her head. "See? This is the sort of thing we want to learn."

"So why do you have to learn it from _me?_" Danny knew he was dangerously close to whining, but he didn't care right now.

"Well, can you direct us to the other benevolent, sentient ghost who haunts Amity then?" Maddie asked dryly.

"Hm. Touché." admitted Danny. _Wait, they think I'm benevolent now? _He gave in a little. "Well then, hypothetically, if you were to ask me questions, what would they be about?" Jack and Maddie beamed at each other, and Danny hurriedly added, "Not that I'm agreeing to anything here! Just hypothetically."

"Right now, all we want to do is understand you. Why do you protect Amity when you are obviously capable of destroying everything here? And why do you fight the other ghosts?" offered Maddie.

"And more technical stuff too, like what are the average, and the above average range of ghostly abilities you can tell us of, stuff to help us improve our inventions." Jack added. "And where the heck did you get one of our Fenton thermoses?"

"Well, you see, most of that is private. It's not like you would go about spouting your capabilities to a stranger right?" Danny asked them, looking down to the floor so he wouldn't have to meet their eyes. "Can't you just understand that I don't want you knowing some stuff?"

"Well what about not answering questions about you, then? Just other things?" asked Maddie hopefully. She was actually a bit disappointed that they didn't seem to be getting any closer to learning more about Phantom, but hey, you take what you can get.

"I...need to think on it," he said, then he gasped and his head shot up as his ghost sense went off for the third time in as many hours. _I never thought I'd be so thankful to have to run off like this._ "I gotta go. Really."

The blue vapour coming out of his mouth hadn't gone unnoticed by the Fentons.

Jack spoke up, "Hey! That's how you know where ghosts are, isn't it!"

Danny grimaced, but nodded. He'd have to me much more careful about his ghost sense when he was in human form now. "Yeah. Will you turn off that thing so I can get out of here?"

"You mean the Fenton Phase-no-more?"

Danny laughed at the name, "Wow. Fitting."

Maddie nodded and focused on the device for a moment. It beeped again and the humming faded.

Danny checked that he could phase by passing his hand through a shelf next to him, and nodded, satisfied. He waved to his parents then flew through the wall and off to his next fight. They stood in silence for a moment then walked out of the store together, collaborating what little they knew about the mysterious ghost boy.

"So," began Maddie. "He was fourteen before he died, less than a year ago."

"He can sense ghosts, and seems to have a wider than documented emotional range for a ghost." continued Jack. "He laughed and looked sad while we talked."

"He is also quite powerful, the ghosts he fights are older than him, but Phantom is stronger. With Plasmius doubly so. Plasmius's strength can be attributed to his age, but Phantoms? His obsession, perhaps?"

"I agree, unusually powerful. A ghost so young shouldn't be that strong. I wonder what makes them different? Phantom is reasonable, and responds well to non-violent conversation."

"All in all, we still know nothing about him," sighed Maddie. "Do you think we should go and find him again right now?" She looked at the Phantom Finder where Phantoms dot had moved off in the direction of the docks.

"Nah. He probably wouldn't be too impressed. On the bright side, the Fenton Phase-no-more works brilliantly!" Jack cheered. He leant over to look at the screen Maddie was studying, "The docks? Box ghost again, huh? You think he gets tired of fighting useless ghosts like that one?"

"Most likely. But he still does though."

* * *

**Authors note: Some people have asked to continue this from a oneshot, so I decided to give it a go. I have a vauge idea of where I want to go now, which I didn't when this was just going to be a oneshot.**

I love feedback, so all reviews are loved. If you see a typo, or some funny grammar or punctuation or anything, feel free to tell me and I'll fix it up.


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